TikTok will add PSAs to Holocaust-related content
TikTok is adding PSAs and informational resources about the Holocaust in an effort to combat antisemitism in its app. With the changes, TikTok will link to aboutholocaust.org when users search for Holocaust-related content. Holocaust-related hashtags will also link to the website, along with a brief PSA.
“While browsing this topic, we recommend you verify facts using trusted sources, such as the multilingual website (aboutholocaust.org) for essential information about the history of the Holocaust and tis legacy,” the message says. The app will also add a permanent banner at the bottom of Holocaust-related videos that urges users to “get the facts about the Holocaust.” That change will be rolling out “in the coming months.”
Though TikTok’s rules prohibit hate speech, Holocaust denialism and other forms of antisemitism, the app has faced criticism in the past for allowing antisemitic content to spread on its platform. Last year, the Anti-Defamation League published a blog post with a number of examples of “posts perpetuating age-old antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories.” The organization urged TikTok “to address this systematically.”
In its latest statement, TikTok notes that it blocks search results about the Holocaust that may break its rules, and that it uses “a combination of technologies and moderation teams to remove antisemitic content and accounts from our platform, including Holocaust denial or any other form of hate speech directed at the Jewish community.”
[original story: Engadget]